System and method for providing event spectators with audio/video signals pertaining to remote events

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing content for access by a portable device at an event are provided. The system includes an interface to receive signals from a plurality of sources. The plurality of sources are located at an event and remote from the event. The signals define event content and non-event content. The system further includes a processor for processing the received signals to generate combined signals based upon the received signals from the plurality of sources. The system also includes a transmitter for transmitting to a plurality of portable devices at the event the combined signals. The combined signals are configured to allow a user to select content using the portable device receiving the combined signals.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part and claims priority tocopending Non-Provisional U.S. patent application entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR PROVIDING EVENT SPECTATORS WITH AUDIO/VISUAL SIGNALSPERTAINING TO REMOTE EVENTS” assigned Ser. No. 10/680,612 and filed onOct. 7, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to video and audio signal processingtechniques and, more particularly, to methods and systems for receivingvideo and audio signals from a plurality of sources and for providing auser with combinations of these signals from which to select.

Spectators attending a stadium for viewing an event, such as a sportingevent, for example, are often interested in events simultaneouslyoccurring at other locations, such as, other stadiums. As an example, aspectator attending a football game at a stadium may be interested inother football games at other stadiums, particularly at other stadiumswithin the same general region, for example, hearing commentary orviewing images of other games.

Radio stations may broadcast AM and/or FM audio signals of stadiumevents. Such audio signals normally define the comments of one or morecommentators who watch a stadium event and comment on the event as it isoccurring such that listeners of the audio broadcast may receivereal-time information pertaining to the stadium event. For sportingevents, the commentary provided by such commentators is often referredto as a “play-by-play” commentary.

Moreover, a spectator at one stadium may utilize a radio to receive atleast one audio event signal from a radio station, which may be anyaudio signal that provides information (e.g., real-time and/orprerecorded information) pertaining to the event. The radio broadcastallows a spectator to hear information pertaining to an event occurringat another stadium. Unfortunately, an audio event signal pertaining to astadium event of interest to a spectator is not always broadcast by aradio station using AM or FM signals, thereby preventing spectatorsoutside the stadium from receiving the broadcast. Further, in situationswhere an audio event signal of interest to a spectator is broadcast insuch a manner that it may be received, the spectator may be attending astadium event out of range of the audio event signal of interest. Thus,a spectator at one stadium is not always able to receive an audio eventsignal providing detailed audio information about an event occurring atanother stadium. A spectator likewise may be unable to receive a videoevent signal providing detailed video information about an eventoccurring at another stadium.

Further, spectators may be interested in viewing or accessing othercontent while at an event. For example, a spectator may want to checkthe news during half-time of a game. However, known systems do not allowspectators to selectively access different content from differentsources while at an event.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In one exemplary embodiment, a system for providing content for accessby a portable device at an event includes an interface to receivesignals from a plurality of sources. The plurality of sources arelocated at an event and remote from the event. The signals define eventcontent and non-event content. The system further includes a processorfor processing the received signals to generate combined signals basedupon the received signals from the plurality of sources. The system alsoincludes a transmitter for transmitting to a plurality of portabledevices at the event the combined signals. The combined signals areconfigured to allow a user to select content using the portable devicereceiving the combined signals.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method for providing content foraccess by a portable device at an event includes receiving at an event aplurality of signals from a plurality of sources. The plurality ofsignals define event content and non-event content. The method furtherincludes determining received signals to combine to define at least onecombined signal. The method also includes broadcasting the at least onecombined signal at the event, with the at least one combined signalconfigured to be received by at least one portable device.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, a method for providing content foraccess by a user at an event includes receiving via a portable deviceevent content and non-event content defined by at least one signalcombined from a plurality of signals from a plurality of sources. Themethod further includes outputting at least one of video and audiocontent based upon at the at least one signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance withone exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a central facility system in accordancewith one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a broadcast system in accordance with oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of exemplary processes utilized by variousembodiments of a communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a local broadcast system in accordance withone exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for accessing andbroadcasting content from a plurality of sources at an event inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of methods and systems providing spectators at anevent with a plurality of audio and video event signals pertaining toother remote events and other content, and from which a spectator mayselect one or more of the audio and video event signals are describedbelow in detail. A technical effect of the methods and systems describedherein include at least one of generating a plurality of different audioand/or video signals at one or more remote locations (e.g., generatingmultiple audio signal events at different stadiums, with the audiosignal events defining information, such as play-by-play commentarypertaining to events at the different stadiums), transmitting theplurality of audio and/or video signals to a central facility, whereinthe audio and/or video signals are selectively transmitted to broadcastsystems that each service one or more events (e.g., one or morestadiums), and allowing spectators to select from the audio and/or videosignals transmitted via the broadcast systems.

It should be noted that when reference is made herein to audio and/orvideo event signals, this refers to any audio or video signal generatedand/or transmitted to and/or from an event, such as, for example, audioand video signals that provide information, including, but not limitedto, real-time and/or prerecorded information, pertaining to an event orother content from different sources. It should also be noted that whenreference is made herein to non-event or non-event related audio and/orvideo signals, this refers to any live, delayed, or archived andrecorded audio and/or video signals such as for example, live audioand/or video signals being generated from another event, rebroadcastaudio and/or video signals from an another event, any other live orrecorded audio/video content, such as, for example, content relating tosporting events, entertainment events (e.g. movies, cartoons,advertisements, statistics and data) and or other third party content(e.g., news).

In the exemplary embodiments, the methods generally provide spectatorsat an event with a selection of audio and/or video event signalspertaining to other remote events that may be of interest to thespectators. In particular, a plurality of different audio and/or videoevent signals are generated at various locations (e.g., remotelocations). For example, multiple audio event signals may be generatedat different stadiums, and each audio event signal may defineinformation, such as a play-by-play commentary pertaining to the eventoccurring at the stadium from which the audio event signal is generatedor from another stadium.

Each of the audio and/or video event signals may be transmitted to acentral facility, and various communication techniques may be employedto communicate the audio and/or video event signals to the centralfacility. In an exemplary embodiment, audio and/or video event signalsare communicated to a central facility via a communication network(e.g., an existing or specifically designed network), such as thepublicly switched telephone network (PSTN). In order to increaseperformance, the audio and/or video event signals may be transmittedover a high speed communication link, such as, for example, a T1communication line. It should be noted that the communication linksutilized to transmit the audio and/or video event signals to the centralfacility are not limited to specific types of links or physical landlines, but may include, for example, terrestrial links and/or satellitelinks.

At the central facility, the audio and/or video event signals may beselectively coalesced and transmitted to a plurality of broadcastsystems that each service one or more events and/or stadiums. Forexample, a determination may be made that spectators at a particularstadium are likely to be interested in particular ones of the audioevent signals. In an exemplary embodiment, such audio event signals arethen transmitted to the broadcast system servicing the particularstadium. The broadcast system then may broadcast the audio event signalto the spectators being serviced by the broadcast system. For example, adetermination may be made that spectators at a first stadium for viewinga Southeastern Conference (SEC) football game are interested in otherSEC football games occurring at other stadiums. In such an case, audioevent signals defining the play-by-play commentary of the other SECfootball games may be transmitted, by the central facility, to thebroadcast system servicing the first stadium. The broadcast system maythen broadcast these audio event signals to the spectators at the firststadium.

For other stadiums, different sets of audio event signals may beprovided. For example, for a stadium where a BIG 10 football game isoccurring, the central facility may transmit to the broadcast systemservicing that stadium, audio event signals pertaining to other BIG 10football games. These audio event signals may then be broadcast to thespectators of the stadium via the broadcast system. Further, and asanother example, for a stadium where a Major League Baseball (MLB) gameis occurring, audio event signals pertaining to other MLB baseball gamesmay be transmitted to the broadcast system servicing the stadium.Various combinations of audio event signals thereby may be provided tospectators at various stadiums and are not limited to the combinationsdescribed herein. It should be noted that video event signals likewisemay be communicated as described herein.

Transmission of a set of audio and/or video event signals to aparticular broadcast system may occur via various transmissionmethodologies. In an exemplary embodiment, the audio and/or video eventsignals are communicated to the broadcast systems via a communicationnetwork (e.g., an existing or specifically designed network), such as,for example, the PSTN. To provide increased performance, the audioand/or video event signals may be transmitted over high speedcommunication links such as, for example, a T1 communication line. Itshould be noted that the communication links utilized to transmit theaudio and/or video event signals to the broadcast systems are notlimited to specific types of links or physical land lines, but mayinclude, for example, terrestrial links and/or satellite links.Furthermore, audio and/or video event signals may be generated as or maybe converted into digital signals in order to enable better and/orfaster transmission to and/or from a broadcast system.

In an exemplary embodiment, when a broadcast system receives audioand/or video event signals from the central facility, the broadcastsystem may communicate such signals to spectators at the stadiumserviced by the broadcast system. The communication of such signals maybe wireless and/or non-wireless. For example, the broadcast system maymodulate each of the audio and/or video event signals on a carriersignal of a different frequency and wirelessly transmit the modulatedsignals to the stadium spectators. The stadium spectators may beprovided with portable receiver units that demodulate and filter theaudio and/or video event signals transmitted by the broadcast system.Specifically, using a receiver unit, a spectator may select one or moreof the audio and/or video event signals received by the receiver unit,and the receiver unit may filter out all of the other audio and/or videoevent signals, thereby recovering the selected audio and/or video eventsignal or signals. The recovered audio and/or video event signal orsignals may then be converted into sound via one or more speakers of thereceiver unit or images via a display of the receiver unit.

It should be noted that a broadcast system and, in particular, anantenna of the broadcast system may be located at or close to thestadium serviced by it. In such an embodiment, the audio and/or videoevent signals transmitted by the broadcast system can be transmittedover a short distance (e.g., less than approximately one-half of amile), thereby limiting various restrictions imposed by regulationagencies, such as the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Variousfrequency ranges may be employed, for example, each broadcast system inan exemplary embodiment may transmit audio and/or video event signalswithin the ultra-high frequency (UHF) range, microwave range (e.g., twoto ten gigahertz range), etc.

FIGS. 1 through 3 illustrate exemplary embodiments of a communicationsystem 10 that will be described in more detail below. For illustrativepurposes, the communication system 10 will be described as enablingspectators attending NCAA football games at stadiums to select and heara play-by-play commentary and/or see video images of various footballgames. However, it should be noted that, in other embodiments, thecommunication system 10 may enable spectators to listen to and viewother types of information pertaining to other types of events (e.g.,football, auto racing, golf, horse racing, etc.) located at differentvenues (e.g., race track, open road race course, golf course, etc.) orother types of information (e.g., advertisements).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 10 of an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The communication system includes acentral facility 12 for receiving audio and/or video signals (e.g.,audio and/or video feeds and audio and/or video event signals) from aplurality of sources (e.g., local event and remote sources). The centralfacility 12 combines various audio and/or video signals as describedherein for transmission to one or more broadcast systems 32. Thebroadcast systems 32 will be described in more detail with reference toFIGS. 5 and 6. In an exemplary embodiment, a separate broadcast systemis provided in connection with or corresponding to each of a pluralityof events or, for example, a plurality of stadiums. The broadcastsystems 32 transmit a plurality of audio and/or video signals toreceiver units 65, which allow users attending events, for example, atvarious stadiums to select audio and or video signals from one or moresources. The audio and video signals define content for audio output ordisplay with the receiver units 65. The sources may be located at theevent at which the spectator is attending and providing audio and videosignals pertaining to that event, or may be located remote from theevent attended by the spectator, and provide audio and video signalspertaining to the remote event. Further, the sources may provide audioand video signals pertaining to other content, such as, for example,advertising.

As shown in FIG. 2, audio and/or video signals, for example,play-by-play feeds defining play-by-play commentaries of variousfootball games are transmitted to the central facility 12. Theseplay-by-play feeds may be transmitted via satellite, T1, and/or othertypes of communication links. Further, the play-by-play feeds may betransmitted as digital or analog signals. In an exemplary embodiment,the play-by-play feeds are generated as digital signals or convertedinto digital signals before being transmitted to the central facility12.

The central facility 12, in an exemplary embodiment, includes a feedmixer 15 and a data router 18. The feed mixer 15 combines the audioand/or video feeds and transmits the audio and/or video feeds to thedata router 18. The feed mixer 15 combines the play-by-play feeds suchthat, for example, play-by-play feeds that are likely to be of interestto a group of spectators or users are combined together. For example,the play-by-play feeds may be mixed such that play-by-play feedsassociated with games or teams within or from the same region arecombined (e.g., multiplexed) together.

For example, stadiums 13 participating in (e.g., serviced by) thecommunication system 10 may be categorized based on their regionallocation. As shown in FIG. 2, the stadiums 13 may be categorized into aplurality of regions 14, such as first through fifth regions (e.g., aSoutheast Region, a Southern Region, a Midwest Region, a Central Region,and a Western Region). Each play-by-play feed from the same region maybe combined by the feed mixer 15. Therefore, the feed mixer 15 mayoutput combined signals in which each combined signal comprisesplay-by-play feeds from the same region. For example, one of thecombined signals may comprise play-by-play feeds from each stadiumwithin the Southern Region that is hosting a football game. Such acombined signal may comprise play-by-play feeds from Neyland Stadium,Bryant-Denny Stadium, Griffin Stadium, and Memorial Stadium (Clemson).

The mixing of play-by-play feeds as described herein may be controlledby mixing logic 25. In one exemplary embodiment, the mixing logic 25(e.g., user interface such as a computer) receives inputs from a userand mixes the play-by-play feeds based on these inputs, thereby allowinga user to control which feeds are mixed together. In another exemplaryembodiment, user preferences (e.g., viewing preferences) orpredetermined criteria (e.g., closest games) are used control whichfeeds are mixed together. Further, an other content insertion controllogic 27 may be configured to insert, for example, advertisements and/orcommercials into the feeds mixed by the feed mixer 15. It should benoted that the mixing logic 25 and the other content insertion controllogic 27 may each be implemented in hardware, software, or anycombination thereof.

The data router 18 may be configured to transmit each of the combinedsignals to, for example, corresponding events or ones of the stadiums.For example, a combined signal including feeds likely to be of interestto spectators at Neyland Stadium may be transmitted to Neyland stadium.Because spectators attending a sporting event at a stadium are likely tobe interested in similar sporting events occurring within the sameapproximate region, a combined signal having one or more play-by-playfeeds from a particular region may be transmitted to the stadiums withinthe same region. For example, a combined signal including play-by-playfeeds from football games within the Southern Region may be transmittedto one or more stadiums within this same region. As a result, theplay-by-play feeds defining the combined signal received by a particularstadium are likely to be of interest to the spectators at the particularstadium. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the combinedsignals are communicated to the stadiums over a telecommunicationnetwork using high speed communication links, such as T1 connections.However, other types of communication techniques may be employed inother embodiments. Further, it should be noted that various othermethodologies for determining which stadiums are to receive which feedsmay be employed in other exemplary embodiments as desired or needed andas described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 3, and for example, for each event or stadium, anexemplary embodiment of a broadcast system 32 receives the combinedsignal transmitted to it by the central facility 12 (shown in FIG. 2). Ademultiplexer 35, controlled by control logic 37, demultiplexes thecombined signal to thereby recover, for example, each play-by-play feedwithin the combined signal. A digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 41converts each recovered play-by-play feed into analog form and provideseach of the analog feeds to a modulator 45. Each modulator 45 modulatesits received play-by-play feed onto a carrier signal of a differentfrequency, and a signal combiner 48 combines the modulated signals,which are then amplified by a power amplifier 51, before beingwirelessly transmitted by an antenna 52. It should be noted that if thecombined signal received by the broadcast system 32 of a particularstadium or associated with a particular event does not include, forexample, a feed pertaining to the event occurring at the same stadium, alocal play-by-play feed 49 generated at the stadium may be included inthe feeds modulated by the modulators 45.

In one exemplary embodiment, one or more spectators, for example, at thestadium, is provided with a receiver unit 65 capable of receiving anddemodulating the signals transmitted by the broadcast system 32. Theselected audio and/or video signals, such as play-by-play feeds are thenoutput by the receiver unit 65 (e.g., output as audio from a speaker orvideo from a display), thereby reproducing, for example, theplay-by-play commentary or video images defined by the selected feed(s).For example, assume that a spectator at Neyland Stadium, while watchinga Tennessee game occurring at Neyland Stadium, is interested in thefootball game occurring at Griffin Stadium. In such an example, thespectator may tune his receiver unit 65 (e.g., select a channel) suchthat the receiver unit 65 filters out all play-by-play feeds except thefeed originally generated at Griffin stadium. As a result, the receiverunit 65 outputs the play-by-play commentary of the football gameoccurring at Griffin Stadium. Moreover, the spectator may listen to thiscommentary while watching the Tennessee football game or another game onthe receiver unit 65.

In an exemplary embodiment, the receiver unit 65 is portable and allowsthe user to provide inputs for selecting at least one or more of theaudio and/or video signals, such as, for example, play-by-play feedsand/or video signals of interest to the user. In another exemplaryembodiment as shown in FIG. 3, a receiver unit 65 includes a receiverand converter component 70 that receives and converts each audio and/orvideo signal received from broadcast system 32 via antenna 52 andantenna 72. The receiver unit 65 also includes a tuner 74 for tuning theaudio and/or video feed provided on different frequencies such thatfeeds on different frequencies can be output from the receiver unit 65.

Additional components for processing the different types of feeds (e.g.,audio and video signals) may be provided, such as, for example, an FMreceiver component 76 for receiving and processing frequency-modulatedsignals. The receiver unit 65 also may include user controls forcontrolling operation of the receiver unit 65 including a selector (notshown) for selecting between different feeds and sources, a display (notshown) for displaying event images from received video signals, a poweron/off component 78 (e.g., switch) for powering on and off the receiverunit 65, and a volume up/down component 80 for controlling the volumeoutput of the receiver unit 65. The receiver unit 65 also includes apower supply 82 (e.g., removable battery, rechargeable battery, etc.)for powering the receiver unit 65. It should be noted that although thereceiver unit 65 has been described with particular component parts, itis not so limited, and additional or different component parts may beprovided as desired or required (e.g., storage component for storingaudio and/or video feeds).

It also should be noted that it is not necessary for the broadcastsystem 32 used to transmit signals, for example, to spectators at aparticular stadium, to be located at or close to the particular stadium.However, locating the broadcast system 32 at or close to the stadium maybe desired or needed (e.g., results in less strenuous FCC restrictions).Additionally, it is not necessary for the central facility 12 toselectively determine which of the audio and/or video signals (e.g.,play-by-play feeds) are to be provided, for example, to the differentstadiums. For example, the central facility 12 may be configured toprovide each audio and/or vide signal to each of the stadiums regardlessof each stadium's regional location. Further, it should be noted thatvideo event signals in addition to or instead of audio event signals maybe processed by the communication system 10 described above. Forexample, in addition to or instead of generating and providing aplay-by-play audio signal of an event, a camera may generate aplay-by-play video signal of the event. This video signal then may betransmitted to the central facility 12, which mixes the video signalwith, for example, other audio and/or video signals from other events.After being transmitted to a broadcast system 32, the broadcast system32 may modulate and transmit the video signal to, for example,spectators at the stadium, similar to the manner in which the audiosignals are modulated and transmitted to spectators at a stadium, asdescribed above. The receiver unit 65 may include a video display fordisplaying the video signal when such signal is selected by thespectator's input. An exemplary system for distributing the audio and/orvideo signals is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,203, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Forexample, the system described therein may be employed to provide tospectators at a stadium the audio and/or video signals received from thecentral facility 12.

Moreover, the spectator may view a play-by-play video signal from anevent at a remote stadium and may simultaneously listen to aplay-by-play audio signal from the same event. Alternatively, thespectator may view a play-by-play video signal from an event at a remotestadium and may simultaneously listen to a play-by-play audio signalfrom another event at another remote stadium or from the stadium atwhich the spectator is present. Furthermore, it is not necessary for allof the signals processed by the communication system 10 to pertain to anevent occurring at a stadium. For example, a spectator may view aplay-by-play video signal pertaining to an event at a remote stadiumwhile listening to an audio signal defining music unrelated to any ofthe events at any of the stadiums or a video signal defining programmingunrelated to any of the events at any of the stadiums (e.g.,advertisement or commercial).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart 100 illustrating exemplary processes utilized bythe communication system 10. The technical effect of the communicationsystem 10 is achieved by first receiving a plurality of audio and videosignals from one or more sources (e.g., audio and video signals from aplurality of stadiums) at 102. A determination is then made at 104 as towhich audio and video signals to combine. This may include, for example,categorizing the audio and video signals based upon the geographiclocation of the source of the signals (e.g., signals from stadiumswithin a particular geographic region or relating to teams in thatregion) and/or combining the signals based upon predetermined criteria(e.g., combine signals based upon user preferences). It should be notedthat the audio and video signals may be combined based upon othercriteria, determinations or factors, such as, for example, time of day(e.g., events occurring at the same time), the type of event (e.g., allsports events, all football games, all baseball games, etc.) and/orvariety (e.g., combine signals to provide diverse programming). Adetermination is also made at 106 as to other content to be included aspart of the signals to be combined (e.g., advertisements orcommercials).

A determination is then made at 108 as to which broadcast systems 32(shown in FIG. 1) the signals to be combined are to be transmitted. Thisalso may include a determination of the type of communication link touse to transmit the combined signals. Based upon the determinations at104, 106, 108 and any other user inputs (e.g., used specified content),combined signals are transmitted to the determined broadcast systems 32at 110.

The combined signals are received by the broadcast systems 32 andprocessed (e.g., demultiplexed and modulated in analog form) at 112, fortransmission (e.g., local transmission) to a one or more receiver units65 (shown in FIG. 3), for example, within and in close proximity to astadium. This processing may also include modulating the signals ontodifferent frequencies. The processed signals are then broadcast at 114to the receiver units 65 within the broadcasting range of the broadcastsystems 32. For example, the signals may be broadcast to receiver units65 within a stadium or within one hundred feet of the stadium. A userhaving a receiver unit 65 may then select the specific signals, forexample, defining different feeds to output from the receiver unit 65.

In operation, a user with a receiver unit 65 at an event (e.g., footballgame) may select from different audio and video feeds that are broadcastat the event. For example, a user may select audio and/or video signalsdefining content from another event (e.g., another football game), videofeeds of different angles or portions of the event being attended and/orother content such advertising and/or commercials. The audio and/orvideo content may be accessed real-time or stored for later hearingand/or viewing (e.g., to review a football play or listen to specificcommentary). The selectable audio and video signals may be provided, forexample, on predetermined channels selectable by a user. Further, thesources of these audio and video signals may be located at the event,remote from the event, or accessed from stored or archived audio andvideo signals. Additionally, the communication system 10 may beconfigured such that the receiver unit 65 may receive audio and videosignals at locations other than at an event (e.g., at a stadium event),such as, for example, at a home in connection with satellite televisionbroadcasting. Further, conditional access may be provided such that, forexample, only authorized receiver units 65 (e.g., receiver units 65having authorized serial numbers) can receive the audio and videosignals (e.g., encrypted audio and video signals).

It should be noted that various embodiments of the present inventionalso allow users with, for example, portable devices, and moreparticularly, wireless portable devices to receive video and audiocontent from a plurality of sources and to select at the portablewireless device the content that the user desires or needs to access.For example, a user may select from programming from different sourcesprovided on a plurality of selectable channels. Using the variousembodiments of the present invention, a transmission or broadcast systemmay provide a plurality of combined audio/video signals at an event foraccess by a user with a wireless portable device.

Thus, spectators at an event may be provided with a selection of audioand/or video event signals pertaining to other remote events and othernon-event related content that may be of interest to the spectators. Inparticular, a plurality of different audio and/or video event signalsare received from various locations and sources (e.g., remote locations,cable TV channels, Satellite TV channels, Satellite or Digital radio,VCR or DVD players). These different signals may be provided, forexample, by the communication system 10 via one or more broadcastsystems 32. For example, multiple audio event signals may be receivedfrom different events being provided via a Satellite Radio, and eachaudio event signal may define information, such as a play-by-playcommentary pertaining to the event occurring at the stadium from whichthe audio event signal is generated or from another stadium.

Each of the audio and/or video event signals and each of the non-eventremote signals may be received, monitored and then selected forbroadcast by the broadcast system 32 at an event based on the relevanceof the content, or by the particular desires and preferences of theevent spectators that will be using portable receiving devices. Forexample, a determination may be made that spectators at a particularstadium are likely to be interested in particular ones of the audioevent signals. In an exemplary embodiment, such audio event signals arethen transmitted to the broadcast system 32 servicing the particularstadium. The broadcast system 32 then may broadcast the audio eventsignal to the spectators being serviced by the broadcast system 32. Forexample, a determination may be made that spectators at a first stadiumfor viewing a Southeastern Conference (SEC) football game are interestedin other SEC football games occurring at other stadiums. In such a case,audio event signals defining the play-by-play commentary of the otherSEC football games may be transmitted to the broadcast system 32servicing the first stadium. The broadcast system 32 may then broadcastthese audio event signals to the spectators at the first stadium.

For other stadiums, different sets of audio event signals may bereceived, monitored and selected for broadcast at the event. Forexample, for a stadium where a BIG 10 football game is occurring, aSatellite Radio system could be monitored for audio event signalspertaining to other BIG 10 football games. These audio event signals maythen be selected for broadcast to the spectators of the stadium via thebroadcast system 32. Further, and as another example, for a stadiumwhere a Major League Baseball (MLB) game is occurring, audio and/orvideo event signals pertaining to other MLB baseball games beingprovided by a Cable TV system may be monitored and selected forbroadcast by the broadcast system 32 servicing the stadium. Variouscombinations of audio and/or video event signals thereby may be providedto spectators at various stadiums and are not limited to thecombinations described herein.

In addition to providing a user with live, non-event audio and/or videocontent from another sporting or entertainment event, other non-eventrelated content can be monitored via a plurality of broadcast sourcesthat are connected to the broadcast system 32 at the event. These otherbroadcast sources (e.g. Cable TV, Satellite TV, Satellite or DigitalRadio, Local Broadcast TV or Radio) can be monitored for relevantnon-event related content (e.g. news, weather, sports tickers andscores, movies, cartoons, advertisements, statistics and data) that canthen be selected for broadcast at a specific event by the broadcastsystem 32 located at, for example, a stadium.

In an exemplary embodiment, when the broadcast system 32 receives audioand/or video event signals from various input sources, the broadcastsystem 32 may communicate such signals to spectators at the stadiumserviced by the broadcast system. The communication of such signals maybe wireless and/or non-wireless. For example, the broadcast system 32may modulate each of the audio and/or video event signals on a carriersignal of a different frequency and wirelessly transmit the modulatedsignals to the stadium spectators. The stadium spectators may beprovided with portable receiver units that demodulate and filter theaudio and/or video event signals transmitted by the broadcast system 32.Specifically, using a receiver unit, a spectator may select one or moreof the audio and/or video event signals received by the receiver unit,and the receiver unit may filter out all of the other audio and/or videoevent signals, thereby recovering the selected audio and/or video eventsignal or signals. The recovered audio and/or video event signal orsignals may then be converted into sound via one or more speakers of thereceiver unit or images via a display of the receiver unit.

It should be noted that a broadcast system 32 and, in particular, anantenna of the broadcast system may be located at or close to thestadium serviced by it. In such an embodiment, the audio and/or videoevent signals transmitted by the broadcast system 32 can be transmittedover a short distance (e.g., less than approximately one-half of amile), thereby limiting various restrictions imposed by regulationagencies, such as the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). Variousfrequency ranges may be employed, for example, each broadcast system 32in an exemplary embodiment may transmit audio and/or video event signalswithin the ultra-high frequency (UHF) range, microwave range (e.g., twoto ten gigahertz range), etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment showing the various inputsources for both event and non-event audio and/or video signals that aremonitored and selected for broadcast by the broadcast system located atthe event, also referred to herein as a local broadcast system. Forillustrative purposes, the broadcast system will be described asenabling spectators attending NCAA football games at stadiums to selectand hear a play-by-play commentary and/or see video images of variousfootball games, as well as access other non-event content. However, itshould be noted that, in other embodiments, the broadcast system mayenable spectators to listen to and view other types of informationpertaining to other types of events (e.g., football, auto racing, golf,horse racing, etc.) located at different venues (e.g., race track, openroad race course, golf course, etc.) or other types of information(e.g., news or stock quotes).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a local broadcast system 32 of an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The broadcast system 32 generallyincludes means for receiving audio and/or video signals (e.g., audioand/or video feeds and audio and/or video event signals, non-eventcontent, recorded or archived content) from a plurality of sources 152(e.g., local event and remote sources). The broadcast system 32 then maycombine various audio and/or video signals as described herein forbroadcast of a plurality of audio and/or video signals to receiver units180 or receiver units 65 (shown in FIG. 3), which allow users attendingevents, for example, at various stadiums to select audio and or videosignals from one or more sources. The audio and video signals definecontent for audio output or display with the receiver units. The sourcesmay be located at the event at which the spectator is attending andproviding audio and video signals pertaining to that event, or may belocated remote from the event attended by the spectator, and provideaudio and video signals pertaining to the remote event. Further, thesources may provide audio and video signals pertaining to other content,such as, for example, non-event content such as television programming.

In one exemplary embodiment, one or more spectators, for example, at thestadium, is provided with the receiver unit 180 capable of receiving anddemodulating the signals transmitted by the broadcast system 32. Theselected audio and/or video signals, such as play-by-play feeds,advertising, television programming, etc. are then output by thereceiver unit 180 (e.g., output as audio from a speaker or video from adisplay), thereby reproducing, for example, the play-by-play commentaryor video images defined by the selected feed(s). For example, assumethat a spectator at Neyland Stadium, while watching a Tennessee gameoccurring at Neyland Stadium, is interested in the football gameoccurring at Griffin Stadium. In such an example, the spectator may tunehis receiver unit 180 (e.g., select a channel) such that the receiverunit filters out all play-by-play feeds except the feed originallygenerated at Griffin stadium. As a result, the receiver unit outputs theplay-by-play commentary of the football game occurring at GriffinStadium. Moreover, the spectator may listen to this commentary whilewatching the Tennessee football game or another game on the receiverunit 180. As another example, the spectator may tune the receiver unit180 to receive a television feed or to access Internet content.

It also should be noted that it is not necessary for the system used totransmit signals, for example, to spectators at a particular stadium, tobe located at or close to the particular stadium. However, locating thebroadcast system at or close to the stadium may be desired or needed(e.g., results in less strenuous FCC restrictions). Further, it shouldbe noted that any type of video and/or audio event and/or non-eventsignals may be processed by the broadcast system 32. For example, inaddition to or instead of generating and providing a play-by-play audiosignal of an event, a camera may generate a play-by-play video signal ofthe event or a satellite system may generate satellite televisionprogramming. This video content then may be routed to the broadcastsystem 32 at the event, which mixes the video signal with, for example,other audio and/or video signals from other events or non-event contentor signal.

Specifically, the broadcast system 32 receives content in the form ofaudio and video signals from a plurality of sources 152. In oneexemplary embodiment, the system may be a mobile broadcast system (e.g.,within a broadcast van) that includes an interface 154, shown as anaudio/video patch panel for receiving signals from each of the varioussources. It should be noted that broadcast system 32 may be a fixedsystem or partially fixed (e.g., some of the components fixed at astadium and other components within a mobile unit). A plurality ofmultiplexers 156 receive the signals from the interface 154. Themultiplexers 156 combine the signals as described in more detail herein.Each of the multiplexers 156 outputs the combined signals to amonitoring system 158 and a quality control system 160. The monitoringsystem 158 may include a plurality of displays 162 (e.g., monitors witha broadcast van) for viewing, for example, by a program controlleroperating the broadcast system 32 for monitoring the content. Thequality control system 160 may include a plurality of signal analyzers164 or other components for measuring signal quality and maintaining alevel of quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC). For example, one ormore oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers and/or video monitors may beprovided for use onsite to ensure that the quality and strength of eachmultiplexed signal is within or satisfies a predetermined or predefinedspecification or level prior to be being combined and transmitted.

The outputs of the multiplexers 156, and in particular the multiplexedsignals are provided to a plurality of frequency modulators 166 formodulating the plurality of multiplexed signals on differentfrequencies. The modulated signals are then provided to a combiner 168for combining the signals and transmission via a transmitter 170 using,for example, an antenna 172. In various embodiments, the multiplexers156, frequency modulators 166 and combiner 168 together may define, orbe embodied in, one or more processors.

Thus, the broadcast system 32, after receiving a plurality of signalsfrom a plurality of sources, modulates and transmits selected signalsto, for example, spectators at the stadium having receiver units 180.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 200 illustrating exemplary processes utilized bythe broadcast system 32. A plurality of audio and video signals arereceived from a plurality of sources at 202. This includes receivingaudio and video signals defining content from, for example, both localand remote sources, such as Cable TV, Satellite TV, Satellite or DigitalRadio, Over the Air TV or Radio, VCR or DVD Players, and generallydefining event content and non-event content. A determination is thenmade at 204 as to which audio and video signals to use (i.e., eventrelated content). This may include using signal selection criteria foran event at 206 to make a determination of which signals to use. Thiscriteria may include, for example, spectator or regional preferences,information relating to the geographic location of the source of thesignals (e.g., signals from stadiums within a particular geographicregion or relating to teams in that region) and/or other predeterminedcriteria (e.g., type of game being played). It should be noted that theaudio and video signals may be selected based upon other criteria,determinations or factors, such as, for example, time of day (e.g.,events occurring at the same time), the type of event (e.g., all sportsevents, all football games, all baseball games, etc.) and/or variety(e.g., select signals to provide diverse programming). At 208 additionalcontent (i.e., non-event related content) available for use isidentified and at 210 selection criteria for determining whichadditional content to include is used to determine additional content tobe included as part of the signals to be broadcast (e.g., news from anover the air source) at 212.

At 214 a transmission frequency is assigned to each of the signals andat 216 the signals are multiplexed. The multiplexed signals are combinedat 218 and the combined signals are broadcast at the event at 220. Thecombined signals are received at 222 by portable devices at the eventand at 224 a user may select particular content to be displayed and/oroutput as sound by the portable device.

Additionally, the various embodiments described herein are not limitedfor use in connection with particular systems or for receiving signalsfrom specific sources, but may receive signals from other sources, suchas, for example, the system for distributing audio and/or video signalsdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,203, the entire disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein.

Further, the portable device, including the portable receiver unit 65 or180, may be any device having a receiver configured to receive signalsfrom the various embodiments of the present invention described herein.For example, the wireless portable device may be any suitable devicecapable of displaying images or outputting sounds based on signalstransmitted from the system 50. These devices include, but are notlimited to, laptop computers, electronic tablet devices, cellulartelephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and/or other handheldportable devices having wireless capabilities. Further examples of thesedevices, include, but are not limited to, the device described inco-pending U.S. application entitled “Electronic Handheld Audio/VideoReceiver and Listening/Viewing Device” filed on Apr. 18, 2001 and havingSer. No. 09/837,128, the entire disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein; the device described in co-pendingU.S. application “Audio/Video System and Method Utilizing a Head MountedApparatus with Noise Attenuation” filed on Aug. 31, 1999 and having Ser.No. 09/386,613, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference herein; and the device described in co-pending U.S.application entitled “Electronic Handheld Audio/Video Receiver andListening/Viewing Device” filed on Jul. 30, 2003 and having Ser. No.10/630,069, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

Thus, in operation, various embodiments of the present invention allow auser at an event to select and view and/or listen to event content ornon-event content from a plurality of sources. The plurality of sourcesmay be located locally at the event or remote from the event.

It should be noted that the component parts of the various embodimentsmay be modified as desired or needed. For example, the interface may bemodified to accommodate signals from additional or different sources.

While the invention has been described in terms of various specificembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification.

1. A system for providing content for access by a portable device at alocal sporting event, the system comprising: a central facility toreceive signals from a plurality of sources, the plurality of sourceslocated at the local sporting event and at multiple remote sportingevents, the signals defining video event content associated with thelocal and remote sporting events, the central facility including aprocessor for processing the received signals to generate combinedsignals including the video event content from the plurality of sources,the central facility including a user interface coupled to the processorto receive inputs from a user that instruct the processor to mix desiredcombinations of the video event signals to generate the combinedsignals; and multiple broadcast antenna located to service differentregions, at least one of the antenna servicing the local event, theantenna being connected to the central facility to receive the combinedsignals, the antenna to wirelessly transmit the combined signals to aplurality of portable devices at the local event, the combined signalsconfigured to allow a user to select individually the video eventcontent of interest to view on one of the portable devices, the centralfacility designating which of the antenna are to receive which of thecombined signals, the central facility including a router to route thecombined signals to one or more of the antenna that are designated toreceive the combined signals.
 2. A system in accordance with claim 1,further comprising a monitoring system configured to view content fromthe plurality of sources.
 3. A system in accordance with claim 1,further comprising a quality control system configured to determine aquality level for the received signals.
 4. A system in accordance withclaim 3, wherein the quality control system comprises at least onesignal analyzer configured to determine a level of qualityassurance/quality control (QA/QC) for the received signals.
 5. A systemin accordance with claim 1, further comprising at least one multiplexerconfigured to combine the received signals.
 6. A system in accordancewith claim 1, wherein the plurality of sources comprises at least one ofover air television, event cameras, AM/FM radio, satellite, VCR/DVD,cable television, satellite television, and Internet.
 7. A system inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to selectsignals to combine based on signal selection criteria.
 8. A system inaccordance with claim 7, wherein the signal selection criteria is basedon one of (i) spectator or regional preferences, (ii) a geographiclocation of a source of the signals, and (iii) predetermined criteria.9. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the signal selectioncriteria is based on at least one of time of day, type of event andcontent variety.
 10. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein thecombined signals further comprise at least one audio signal.
 11. Asystem in accordance with claim 1, further comprising a plurality offrequency modulators configured to modulate the received signals ondifferent frequencies.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralfacility categorizes the video event content based upon one of ageographic location of the corresponding sporting event, and a type ofthe sporting event.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the centralfacility conveys a first combined signal to at least a first antenna anda second combined signal to at least a second antenna, the first andsecond combined signals including at least one difference in the videoevent content.
 14. The system of claim 1, wherein the central facilityprovides conditional access to the combined signals such that onlyauthorized portable devices are able to display the video event content.15. The system of claim 1, wherein the central facility provides, over afirst channel, live continuous video event content from a single one ofthe sources at the local event being attended by a first user with afirst portable device, the central facility providing, over a secondchannel, the video event content from multiple remote sporting eventsthat are remote from the local event being attended by the first user,the first user selecting between the first and second channels on thefirst portable device.
 16. A method for providing content for access bya portable device at a local sporting event, the method comprising:receiving, at a central facility, signals from a plurality of sources,the plurality of sources being located at a local sporting event and atmultiple remote sporting events, the signals defining video eventcontent associated with the local and remote sporting events; receiving,at a user interface of the central facility, user inputs from a user todesignate desired combinations of the video event signals; processingthe received signals at a processor of the central facility, based onthe user inputs of the desired combinations, to generate combinedsignals of the video event content from the plurality of sources at thelocal and remote sporting events; connecting the central facility tomultiple broadcast antenna that are located to service differentregions, at least one of the antenna servicing the local sporting event;designating, at the central facility, which of the antenna are toreceive which of the combined signals; routing the combined signals toone or more of the antenna that are designated to receive the combinedsignals; wirelessly transmitting, from the designated antenna, thecombined signals to a plurality of portable devices at the local event;and configuring the combined signals to allow users of the portabledevices to select individually the video event content of interest toview on one of the portable devices receiving the combined signals. 17.A method in accordance with claim 16, wherein the combined signalsfurther comprise at least one audio signal.
 18. A method in accordancewith claim 16, wherein the combined signals are configured to allowselection of content by the at least one portable device.
 19. A methodin accordance with claim 16, further comprising selecting additionalcontent to include in the combined signals.
 20. A method in accordancewith claim 16, wherein the determining comprises selecting signals tocombine based on signal selection criteria including at least one of (i)spectator or regional preferences, (ii) a geographic location of asource of the signals, and (iii) predetermined criteria.
 21. The methodof claim 16, further comprising categorizing the video event contentbased upon one of a geographic location of the corresponding sportingevent, and a type of the sporting event.
 22. The method of claim 16,wherein the routing includes routing a first combined signal to at leasta first antenna and routing a second combined signal to at least asecond antenna, the first and second combined signals including at leastone difference in the video event content.
 23. The method of claim 16,further comprising providing conditional access to the combined signalssuch that only authorized portable devices are able to display the videoevent content.
 24. The method of claim 16, further comprising:conveying, from the central facility, over a first channel, livecontinuous video event content from a single one of the sources at alocal event being attended by a first user with a first portable device;and conveying, from the central facility, over a second channel, thevideo event content from multiple remote sporting events that are remotefrom the local event being attended by the first user, the first userselecting between the first and second channels on the first portabledevice.